


a different sea

by songs



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: A happier loop, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-22
Updated: 2014-07-22
Packaged: 2018-02-09 23:05:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2001435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songs/pseuds/songs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You know,” he says. “I read a book, once. Where the ocean was red.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	a different sea

“Kaworu-kun,” comes Shinji’s voice.

 

“Mm?”

 

“You know,” he says. “I read a book, once. Where the ocean was red.” 

“Red,” Kaworu echoes. His legs dangle over the sheen of the pale water, and Shinji’s do the same. “That must have been frightening.”

 

“Yeah.” Shinji kicks his feet; blue saltwater splashes and glints through the air. “It was a punishment.”

 

“For what?” Kaworu asks. For a second, he feels a throb along his throat. But he ignores the ache; instead, he rests his hand in the space beside the other boy’s.

 

“The humans tried to make their own God,” Shinji explains. “And they were punished.”

 

Kaworu’s hand stills.  _So this story still follows us, no matter how far we go._

 

“Shinji-kun,” he says, and it comes out tender. Beautiful. Everything about Shinji is rather beautiful, Kaworu decides. Even his name.  When everything else changes,  _Shinji_ remains. A beacon. A core.  _My soul’s ruler._ “They say that red is the color of fate.”

 

“Red is the color of blood,” Shinji retorts, folding his legs back up onto the dock.

 

“Does blood frighten you?”

 

“Blood reminds me of pain.”

 

“Do you hate pain, Shinji-kun?”

 

“I’m not sure of what I hate.”

 

“Is there anything you like?”

 

At this, Shinji blushes. “I…I like Kaworu-kun, of course. You’ve always been very kind.”

 

_So very different,_ Kaworu thinks,  _but also the same._

Kaworu leans in, close enough that their wrists bump.  _I’m in love with you._ It’s an easy thing to say, an easier thing to feel, when Shinji is involved.

 

“Blue is a nice color,” Shinji murmurs, and Kaworu tilts his head to face him. “Blue is the color of the ocean, the sky. It’s my favorite...”

 

He adds the last bit with a flush, “Even Kaworu-kun’s eyes are blue.”

 

At this, Kaworu jolts, bringing his hand to his face. Shinji smiles with tinny happiness, and peers down at the water again.

 

Kaworu does the same.

 

_Blue water, blue sky, blue eyes,_ he thinks.  _What a strange word, indeed._

“Kaworu-kun,” Shinji says, again, without looking away from the water. “Would you like to swim?”

 

Without thinking, he blurts, “You aren’t afraid?”

 

Shinji laughs. “Don’t be silly. I’ve never been afraid of the water, Kaworu-kun.”

 

And Kaworu remembers: a world draped in red, a world of scarlet seas and skies and Eva-fists and bones and Shinji’s dead eyes.  _I was born to meet you,_ he remembers.  _I was born to die at your hands._ In the word of broken Lilims, of carved angels and the hung Lilith.

 

_The world with a red ocean. The world where man was punished._

Not this one, Kaworu realizes, as birds chime over head.  _Not this one._

“Alright,” Kaworu says, and it sounds weak, even to himself. “I’d love to, Shinji-kun.”

 

And Shinji smiles, holding out his hand. Kaworu feels the breath leave his body—for all times, Shinji has never offered him his hand.

 

As if handling glass, Kaworu takes it.

 

Shinji’s smile widens. “We’ll jump, on the count of three—”


End file.
